Kansas City residents are served by 74 school districts. Nineteen of these districts, representing over 70 percent of area enrollments, are included in Expansion Management magazine's annual educational quality ratings of nearly 1,000 school districts nationwide.

Seven of the area's districts rated "gold medal," the highest of the five Expansion Management composite cost-performance categories. Six were awarded "blue ribbon," the next highest category.

Listed below are links to all the K-12 school districts in Jackson County.

The Kansas City area is home to numerous universities serving the entire metro population offering technical, associate, undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Nine institutions within the metro area offer graduate degrees in numerous disciplines. The University of Kansas (Lawrence) and the University of Missouri (Kansas City) also offer professional degrees in law, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. Degrees in osteopathic medicine are offered by the University of Health Sciences in Kansas City.

Kansas State University in Manhattan, Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, the University of Missouri's Columbia campus, Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, and Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri, are some of the nearby major institutions from which area employers also recruit.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

Jackson County and its surrounding area has dozens of community colleges to serve traditional and non-traditional students seeking academic studies and work-preparation programs.